Konami mysteriously took the Metal Gear Online PC beta offline several hours shortly after it launched; supposedly for maintenance work. It turns out that players had discovered a bug in the game that allowed them unlimited access to the MB-coins – the in game currency – without having to pay a cent.

MB-coins are used to build a new bases and other in-game items, and generally cost real money to obtain. Konami has said in the past that it would be including methods for earning the in-game currency through gameplay, but no details about it have surfaced. That didn’t stop the players from trying to figure out how to play the game without spending money, which resulted in the discovery of the bug.

“Due to a possible exploit, we’ve removed access to the Beta temporarily while a hotfix is being prepared,” wrote Konami community manager Robert Peeler on the MGO Steam Community page. “Once the issue is addressed we’ll provide access to the Beta once again.”

At the moment, MGO online is operational once again and Konami has managed to solve the problem that was literally giving people free money. Overall, the game was only offline for about eight hours; which is relatively short for such a major problem. Although the fact that it was taken down for “maintenance” barely two days after the beta was launched does not inspire confidence.